MYRNA EINDHOVEN New colonizers? Identity, representation and government in the post-New Order Mentawai Archipelago Sedang bicarakan situasi politik di kepulauan ini […] boleh dibilang bisnis seperti biasa. Dulu kami digigit kucing, sekarang digigit anjing, rasa sakitnya sama aja. Talking about politics with regard to this archipelago […] it may be said it is business as usual. In earlier times we were bitten by the cat, now we are bitten by the dog, both are equally painful. (Liong Hamid Satoko, December 2002, Saibi Samukop.) Introduction Even before Law no. 22/1999 on decentralization of the state administra- tion became operative the then-president Habibie granted the Mentawai Archipelago full independent district status at once.1 As a result of intense lobbying on the part of various local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Mentawai Archipelago finally detached itself from the mainland district of Padang-Pariaman on 9 October 1999 (Mimbar Minang 14-10-1999). The Mentawaian case, a pioneer project within the pan-Indonesian process of administrative fragmentation or pemekaran, is foremost the result of activities by local elites entangled in a contest for political positions. The whole process is characterized by intense political turmoil and all kinds of exclusionisms on the basis of various ethnic sentiments. The detachment of the Mentawai Archipelago from the mainland district Padang-Pariaman marked a long awaited shift in political power over the ar- 1 Most of the data used in this chapter have been gathered during extensive field research in Indonesia in 2002-2003 and late 2004. Earlier versions have been presented during the EUROSEAS Conference 2004 in Paris and the Renegotiating Boundaries workshop 2004 in Jakarta. I would like to thank the Renegotiating Boundaries workgroup and Juniator Tulius for their inspiring comments and valuable additional insights. Myrna Eindhoven - 9789004260436 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 07:16:31PM via free access NORTH SUMATRA RIAU AGAM Bukittinggi PADANG PANJANG Padang Panjang Pariaman PADANG-PARIAMAN Padang Sikabaluan Simalegi Saibi Sumakop SIBERUT WEST SUMATRA SIPORA Maileppet Sikakap MALAYSIA ACEH PAGAI NORTH JAMBI PAGAI SUMATRA SOUTH Padang JAVA BENGKULU Map 3. Mentawai Archipelago and West Sumatra Myrna Eindhoven - 9789004260436 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 07:16:31PM via free access New colonizers? 69 chipelago. Local elites have been able to take over the political power from the mainland Minangkabau who had been ruling the archipelago for decades. The Mentawaians were euphoric now that they finally saw themselves freed from their ‘colonization’ by the significantly different – in cultural as well as religious senses – mainland Minangkabau. Now that the initial excitement over the new district has died down, new patterns of power and representation have become visible, but at the same time old modes of representation and familiar adminis- trative styles suggest a strong continuity with New Order politics. The processes of decentralization currently taking place in Indonesia are believed to empower local communities and stimulate greater accountability by local governments, and have therefore often been equated with democra- tization and the strengthening of civil society (Aspinall and Fealy 2003:1-14; Antlöv and Cederroth 2004, see also H. Schulte Nordholt 2003). Closer inves- tigation of the experiences within the Mentawaian communities, however, raises the question of whether and to what extent these new power constel- lations and reformulated modes of representation fulfil the aspirations of the Mentawaian constituencies. During the shift in local power relations, the notion of identity has been politicized. The term putra asli daerah (literally: autochthonous sons of the region) is omnipresent in negotiations over political positions (Puailiggoubat 4(March 2002):2). It is only putra asli daerah that should control local govern- ments, because only they are believed to be able to secure privileged access for their communities in the allocation of economic resources and govern- ment positions (Aspinall and Fealy 2003:6). Regional autonomy and decen- tralization have also resulted in a renewed interest in adat (tradition, custom). Local NGOs have taken up the notion of adat to voice their claims for greater recognition of certain local traditions and adat-based rights over natural re- sources (Acciaioli 2001). Placing adat in the middle of the decentralization discussion is a powerful political act, because adat, in public discourse, is con- sidered to originate from below. During Suharto’s authoritarian, top-down New Order regime, adat was ‘domesticated’ and de-politicized by the state (Schefold 1998). Only its aestheticized ‘peaks’ were enlisted to contribute to the process of nation-building (Picard 1997). Recently, however, adat has re- quired new symbolic and rhetorical importance which fuels political activity related to the administrative changes and political interests. While these processes have certainly opened up new opportunities for some, others stand to lose their grip on the political process. While local elites are engaged in political negotiations it appears that local communities do not seem to be able to fully partake. Those prominently involved advocate adat and the privileges due to the Mentawaian community, but at the same time they view the new opportunities from a variety of interests, trying to find structures most sympathetic to their own interests. Ordinary people are Myrna Eindhoven - 9789004260436 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 07:16:31PM via free access 70 Myrna Eindhoven at best spectators, informed only when major decisions have already been taken. Common people thus easily develop cynical views about the political rhetoric which emphasizes adat and the bottom-up character of the whole decentralization process (Von Benda-Beckmann 2001). Local NGOs tend to play a Janus-faced role within the whole process. Harbouring the majority of the local Mentawaian elite and having access to both the financial and the infrastructural means, many local NGOs have been recently transformed into political strongholds, bypassing their intermediate civil society function (Eindhoven 2002). This chapter starts with an overview of the situation in which Mentawaians found themselves while the archipelago was still part of the district of Padang- Pariaman. I will address the problematic inter-ethnic relations between Mentawaians and Minangkabau people. I will also briefly discuss govern- ment policies with regard to the Mentawaians as a typical group of people in Indonesian society. In the next section I shall discuss the genesis of a critical elite among the Mentawaians and what kind of activities they deployed un- der the banner of the local organizations IPPMEN and Yayasan Citra Mandiri. The third section explores the creation of the district of Kepulauan Mentawai and the rush for putra asli daerah that ensued. This will be followed by an ac- count of how members of the Mentawaian elite have taken up their new role as politicians. I then discuss the role and position of both local NGOs and lo- cal communities. The chapter will conclude with an overview of the political situation in the Mentawai Archipelago now that the initial turbulence raised by pemekaran has died down. Mainland colonizers Both geographically and administratively the Mentawai Archipelago is part of the province of West Sumatra and was until late 1999 part of the district of Padang-Pariaman. The Mentawai Archipelago, consisting of four larger is- lands (Siberut, Sipora, North Pagai, and South Pagai) and several smaller is- lets, is situated in the Indian Ocean approximately 100 kilometres off the west coast of Sumatra. The autochthonous Mentawaians form a majority within their own territory, with an estimated 70,000 people. A still insignificant num- ber of migrants from West and North Sumatra, Java, and Nias reside mostly in the harbour villages. While Mentawai was still part of Padang-Pariaman district, the archipelago covered nearly 80% of the territory of the district and was responsible for al- most three quarters of the district’s total revenue – the export of dried coco- nut, rattan, and especially timber being the most important sources of income. Although insignificant in number, migrants almost completely controlled trade on the islands. It was they who enjoyed the surplus, leaving the Mentawaians Myrna Eindhoven - 9789004260436 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 07:16:31PM via free access New colonizers? 71 as ill-paid suppliers of rough materials only. With the migrants having their family and business interests abroad, most of the proceeds generated on the islands never returned to Mentawai. This, together with the unequal redistri- bution of taxes and reforestation budgets, turned Mentawai into an area where exploitation was rife while structural investments were absent. Within Padang-Pariaman district, political power was invariably in the hands of the Minangkabau – the dominant ethnic group in West Sumatra. Due to a lack of education, experience, and ambition, the Mentawaians have not been able to take up positions in the administrative machinery. Nor was there ever any real attempt to interest Mentawaians in these func- tions (Persoon 1994:227). One had to be a Muslim in order to be able to ap- ply for the function of civil servant, and this made it virtually impossible for most Mentawaians to apply for government positions. Being Christianized since